More than an Old Pile of Rocks
by blue artemis
Summary: Now that Dumbledore is gone, the Castle reawakens and decides to matchmake. This was written for the 2018 ss hg giftfest as a gift for the community based on a prompt by bardsdaughter1. Many thanks to By Another Name for the beta. As always, I don't own anything.


It was the little things that Severus Snape noticed after the war, when he was reinstalled as Headmaster. Every time he tried to sort through any applications for new professors, somehow all but one would disappear for the position of the new Spell-crafting and Warding professor; even though there were several qualified candidates. When he gave in and told the castle he would offer her the job, there was a pull for him to go see the classroom he had set aside, and when he noticed a new door a few feet down the corridor, he realized the castle had made her new quarters as well. He shook his head. Between Albus's death and the generous supply of magical help to rebuild, the castle had taken on a life of its own.

* _No, Severus, it isn't a new life, I was able to reawaken. Do you honestly believe I would have allowed anything like what Albus allowed to happen to the children I housed in my walls?*_

Severus was almost certain that the castle was trying to communicate, but he didn't quite understand what was being said to him. He shrugged and got ready for his meeting with the staff.

* _We will be getting there, Severus. You are not quite as open to me as Minerva has been, but we will get there.*_

Hermione Apparated to the front gates of Hogwarts and took a deep breath, looking up at the castle that would most likely be her home for the rest of her life.

Severus gathered with his senior staff in the meeting room the castle set up for him next to his office. He sat down and looked at them expectantly.

Pomona looked around and said "The castle obviously likes you, Severus, this is a nice change from the teacher's tea room."

"The tea room is still there, but I know some of the students have learned to come there to see if they can find out any gossip when the Professor's leave. I would rather that just be a place to relax. Hogwarts was kind enough to comply," he replied. "Due to the gargoyle, this keeps the students away from information they should not have."

Minerva smiled at him. She was quite pleased with the changes Severus had started to make to the castle. "So, what of your new spell-crafting and warding class? Who have you chosen to teach it?"

As Minerva finished speaking, there was a chime heard throughout the room.

"Announce," said Severus.

"Professor Hermione Granger is at the door, Headmaster," the deep growly voice of the gargoyle replied.

"Let her in, then, Lester."

The door opened, and Hermione walked in, looking around and seeing mostly familiar faces. "Hello, everyone, thank you for the offer, Headmaster. Considering the goblins wouldn't hire me, and very few people are still willing to hire a single witch to ward their properties, being able to teach Spell-crafting and Runes here is a wonderful opportunity."

"Still as talkative as ever, I see, Miss Granger," replied the Headmaster, turning back toward Minerva, unfortunately, keeping Hermione from seeing the humor in his eyes."

 _*Severus! Stop being an idiot! If she can't see your face, she's going to think you are serious!*_

Hermione just nodded. She had learned, many years training under the goblins, who were willing to teach her for the basically slave labor she gave them as her part of the reparations to Gringotts, and then with the Unspeakables, who were both the most gossipy and most secretive bunch of people she'd ever had any interactions with, to keep her mouth shut if necessary.

Severus frowned. He had hoped that the newest professor would banter with him, but it seemed it was not to be. Minerva pursed her lips. She knew that Hermione had a rough time of it, what with the debacle with young Mr. Weasley that kept him from even trying out a relationship with her, and Merlin knew that most wizards were unable to keep up with her brilliant mind and magical prowess. Had she been a pureblood, all of the upper echelons would have been mad for her. As it was, "Hermione, dear, why was it that you felt you had to leave the Unspeakables?"

Hermione smiled at her favorite professor. "You never really do, Professor McGonagall. We just, um, outpost?" she said, thinking of the proper word. "If anything I do can relate to one of the studies we had in the enclave, then I can continue it. But physically, I couldn't stand being in the same room with most of the people there. The Unspeakables in the enclave are the ones who cannot find an outpost, and they become most insular and even more peculiar than pretty much everyone. I didn't want to end up that way."

Rolanda Hooch snorted. "It didn't have anything to do with the wager over who would bed you first?"

Hermione grinned, and it was feral enough to startle most of the rest of the staff. "Anyone who had to wager with someone else over whether they had bollocks enough to bed me obviously doesn't."

Rolanda laughed heartily at that. "And those that didn't bother to wager? Is the enclave as incestuous as it is rumored to be?"

"I can not say," Hermione replied. "Before anyone takes offense at that," she said looking around at all of the professors, "I signed an Oath to work there. I can't say anything about what goes on in the enclave. Anyone who has said anything is either an oathbreaker, or never part of the enclave."

"Just so," said Minerva. "Elphinstone was the same. Dear, you are no longer a student. I'm quite certain I speak for all of us in saying that when we are not in front of the students, you can most certainly use our first names."

"Precisely," said the headmaster. "Now, I will show you to your new suite of classrooms and office and living quarters, which were provided to your specifications once your contract was signed."

"New quarters? I wasn't expecting that," said Hermione, looking up at Severus.

"Neither were most of us, but the Castle seems fond of you," he replied.

* _She will be good for both of us, Severus. This I promise you.*_

As they walked down the corridor, Hermione was quite certain she heard someone say "who is he to talk."

Filius watched them walk off, and turned to Rolanda. "Ten Galleons says they are together by the Yule Ball."

Rolanda nodded, then said, "I have Spring Solstice."

The others chimed in with various dates, based on whatever knowledge of the two they thought they had.

Minerva just shook her head. She had nodded at Filius, which was why his bet was ten Galleons instead of his normal five. For the little while she had been headmistress, she held the wards, and she and the Castle had come to an understanding. Once Hogwarts had realized she wanted the best for Severus, the Castle would help her in subtle ways.

* _Don't worry, MInnie, Horatio somehow turns all those unnecessary applications into tablets for the mer-people.*_

Minerva smiled. There was certainly nothing wrong with a little insider information in this case.

A month into her tenure as one of the newest professors for one of Hogwart's reinstalled classes, Hermione was a little confused. She saw that she was one of the few permanent professors for the positions that got reinstated. She decided to go see Sev-the Headmaster to see why that was.

* _Here you go, sweetling. Have a shortcut.*_

She was a bit surprised when a door opened up at the back of her office, but her curiosity and the warm lighting drew her to it. She followed the stairway and reached a door that was locked. She knocked.

"Enter!" Severus called out, having found that his office provided a back entrance for Minerva. "Minerva, what can I do for-"

"I'm sorry, I'm not Minerva," Hermione responded.

Severus just stared at her.

"It isn't a problem, is it? I wanted to speak to you, and then this door opened in my office and it looked inviting, and it led me here," she said, almost babbling.

Severus came back to himself when he noticed she was starting to back up to leave. "Don't leave, it is fine. I-ah, well, previously, the only person who was given a shortcut to my office by the castle has been Minerva. But I see you rate high enough to merit one yourself."

"That's just why I came to see you!" Hermione exclaimed, then started pacing. "Neville and I are the only permanent new Professors! And I know Pomona sponsored Neville as it should be. The rest are all only here for the term!"

"I understand your question, Professor Granger, but why are you so agitated?" he asked.

"Why am I special?"

Severus blinked at her. "I don't pander to witches angling for compliments," he said.

* _Lighten up, Severus. Appeal to her curiosity. She's almost like a cat in that regard, you know.*_

"I wasn't-"

"And stop stamping your feet. You are not a child any longer. You are twenty-six years old and highly regarded in your field. You are extremely qualified for the position. As it is, the Castle itself had a hand in your hiring. I've learned not to question it."

Hermione cocked her head. "The Castle?"

"Yes."

"Hm. The Castle also gave me that short cut when I wanted to come see you, I wonder if it will go away?"

"Professor Granger, Granger, oh for Merlin's sake, Hermione!" Severus said loudly when Hermione got lost in her thoughts.

She smiled. "That is the first time you called me Hermione, Headmaster."

Severus thunked his head onto his desk. "I believe I had already said to call me Severus," came muffled from under his hair, which had grown longer and longer.

Hermione said the first thing that came to mind. "Severus, I've notice how long your hair has gotten. One of the goblins showed me how to weave various things that they use for armor, such as bracelets, girdles and hair traps. Would you like me to weave a hair trap for you?"

Severus was startled. This was old magic she was talking about, developed prior to wands and having long fallen out of favor. "Let me think about it, Hermione. You do realize if you provide one for me, people will talk," he said.

"People will talk anyway, Severus. They already do. You know, I'm now the old spinster of the so-called Golden Trio. Ron did find his way to be happy, even though Pansy's little potion didn't do what she expected."

"I've wondered about that," Severus said.

"If you let me weave the hair trap, I shall tell you about it," Hermione grinned at him.

Severus just raised an eyebrow, and Hermione took it as her cue to leave.

She started to think of what she would do to weave the trap for him. The hair traps were meant for warriors, a basket of ribbon woven around most of a ponytail, keeping it from being available to be grabbed by an opposing fighter due to the magics applied to them in the weaving. While the (generally male) was not fighting, they just looked like a long woven trap around the hair, the more intricate ones having crests or monograms woven onto them. It all depended on the skill and magic of the weaver.

 _*Old magic! I love the old magic.*_

Minerva looked up at the knock on the door to her office. "Severus, what a surprise!"

"Minerva, you must help me. Hermione offered to weave a hair trap for me. You know what people will say. I don't want her to feel obligated to me just for something like this," he said.

"Then when she gets asked, she can teach the magic during one of the weekend "old magic" series we are doing, and I can tell people the history. Since very few of the boys have such long hair, we will ask for volunteers from among the parents and Ministry," she said. "You don't quite know it, do you? You believe it is only for lovers?"

Severus nodded reluctantly. "Min-"

"No, child, don't interrupt. These used to be quite the thing for a witch to proclaim her interest or to weave for her family. But the loss of the older rituals and abilities to use wandless magic made it scarcer and scarcer to see. If Hermione can teach the children how to do it, it will improve a lot of the other upper year classes by giving them a way to channel their magic that isn't through their wands. The young man whose hair is being trapped also has to provide some magic for the witch to use. It is a collaborative effort, which is why it ended up being used mostly among lovers before falling out of favor."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Then I shall allow Hermione to weave one for me on Monday and Saturday's series should be these hair traps. What do you think?"

The lights of the castle all seemed to take on a emotive glow.

"I think the Castle and I believe it is an excellent idea," Minerva replied.

Monday evening after dinner, Severus had motioned to Hermione who had come over to his chair. The children who were still left watched attentively, as this was a very unusual occurrence.

After a quick consultation, everyone was startled when the head table slid backward and an oddly shaped chair with a step behind it holding a stool and a table with a basket full of ribbons on it materialized.

* _Here you go, children. Everything you need. I do love old magic!*_

Hermione heard this in her head and after looking at Severus, who was just staring at the chairs in the middle of the great hall, smiled then said loud enough for all of the students to hear her, "Thank you, Lady Hogwarts. This is perfect." She strode out to the pedestal and began rummaging through the ribbons as she gestured to Severus to sit in the chair.

"Hermione, what are you saying?" Severus asked quietly as he stood up to move to the chair.

"If the Castle is going to persist in gifting me with things, then I need to thank her, don't you think? It is only good manners," she replied with a smile.

Severus cocked his head as he sat and nodded. "You are correct, of course." Taking her lead, he also spoke loudly. "I agree, my lady. Many thanks for all the things you have done for me this year."

The Castle glowed in response, then suddenly, there was a circle of chairs surrounding the pedestal, which oddly enough were filled first by Slytherins, who at least had an inkling of what the whole thing might be.

All of the audience was captivated as Hermione pulled Severus's back into a ponytail and fastened a black ribbon around it. Then she chose ten more ribbons, in green, silver, yellow, black, blue, bronze, red and gold and two white ones. She tucked each one into the top ribbon and began to weave. The entire process was quite lulling, but Severus seemed to know intuitively when she needed him to hold a ribbon for her, adding bits of his magic to what she was weaving. When she was done, she held up a large mirror. She had woven a trap with a slightly raised shield showing the Hogwarts crest on which the Slytherin Snake was prominent.

"It is perfect, Professor Granger. I am quite thankful," Severus said, loud enough for the fascinated audience to hear.

"You are very welcome, Headmaster," she replied, then turned to the students. "I will be teaching this on Saturday, during the regularly scheduled old magic class. If you can either grow your hair, or ask a family member to attend to be a guinea pig before then, I would appreciate it. Sign ups will be posted outside my office for the pairs."

* _Give them a little bit of information, Minnie-dear. They aren't sure what to make of it, yet."_

The Deputy Headmistress stepped up beside the pair. "I will be conducting the lecture portion of the class, but as a preview, I just want to say these are a good way to practise wandless and cooperative magic. There need not be any sort of romantic association, just a friendship or family bond will be quite enough."

"What exactly happened between you and Mr. Weasley, Hermione?" Severus asked as he walked her to her quarters after the trap-weaving demonstration in the Great Hall.

"We had kissed, out of sheer relief and adrenaline, on the day of the Final Battle. And we knew we needed to talk about it, because I wasn't quite ready to fall into line as what I thought he wanted as a Weasley wife, although I did love him at the time. We had agreed to meet up the day after the final funeral, by the pond at the Burrow. When I got there, he had Pansy Parkinson in his lap and fired a banishing curse at me when I made a sound." She stopped and took a deep breath.

"That does not sound like Ronald Weasley," Severus said.

"I ran back to the Burrow, and told Molly what I had seen and what had happened, when she looked horrified. Apparently, there was a basket of biscuits and muffins that had been sent to the house, presumably by me, and Ronald had eaten a few of them in the morning. We looked at the basket and tested it, and the items inside had the Insidia potion and Gravida potion in them. Someone, whether it was Pansy or not, had dosed everything, copied my handwriting, and met up with Ron in my place." She smiled wryly. "By the time Molly and Percy got out there, conception had occurred."

"You don't seem to be terribly undone by it all, Hermione."

"I grieved the might-have-beens, and I let Pansy know that I still valued Ron as one of my best friends. We have managed to stay friends, and had this not been the way everything started, I might have been willing to even be friends with Pansy. But I can't trust her, so I'm not. Ginny doesn't trust her, either, so Ron is sort of the odd man out. But he decided to make the best of it, and he has the house-witch and the large family he wanted. She may not be able to cook, but she came with two house-elves. She was trying to keep herself safe, and I don't like her methods, but I understand desperation."

"You are a kinder person than I," Severus replied.

"Hate and anger take too much energy. I find I like using my energy up in far more pleasurable ways," Hermione said, seeing they had reached her door. "Thank you for the escort." Then she stood on her toes and kissed Severus on the cheek, entering her rooms without looking back afterwards.

Severus stood there, hand to his cheek, frozen in a sense of wonder. "She couldn't have meant, I mean why would she, me?"

* _Yes, you, silly man. You are quite the match. Your magic vibrates together.*_

The Saturday demonstration of the trap-weaving was very successful. Not only did the wizards with long hair show up, but in many cases, their wives did, wanting to learn the old magic.

So much cooperation and magic and just community happened with that particular lecture that part of the Astronomy tower spontaneously remodeled itself.

That evening, Severus was thinking that he had to ask Hermione about what she meant when she said pleasurable, for all her knew, it could be gobstones, when the door she used to get to his office glowed. Contrary to his ornery nature, he decided to use the door. "Well, my lady, if you insist."

* _Good boy. Now you understand."_

Hermione looked up when she heard footsteps coming down the staircase of her short-cut. She had never imagined that Severus would use it, after all.

There was a short rap on the door.

"Come in, Severus!"

He opened the door to find Hermione sitting on her couch in a very short vest and itty bitty shorts which seemed to make up her lounge-wear. "Are you certain you wish to entertain me in that outfit?"

Having gotten used to his retreat into brusqueness when he was unsure of himself, Hermione smiled. "I can take it off, if you would prefer."

Severus closed his eyes and took a breath. "I came down to ask what you might have meant by pleasurable the other evening, but I see you don't mean gobstones."

"Strip gobstones can actually be quite a bit of fun," Hermione replied, standing up from the couch and walking over to him. "But really, the pleasure I was talking about pretty much only requires the two of us. I think we can be very good for each other."

Severus looked down when she took his hand, and feeling the anticipation from the castle deep in his mind, clasped hers in return.

Hermione smiled and led him to her bedroom slowly, giving him every option of backing out.

He never did.

It was not unusual after the trap-weaving lesson to find various students up in Hermione's office asking about different types of old magic. It also wasn't unusual to find the headmaster there, also fielding questions about various magic and helping shape a course of study for the Saturday demonstration series.

It became common to see and hear students thanking the Castle for various things as well.

* _Thank YOU, dear ones. You make me feel young again.*_

Therefore no one was surprised when Hermione and Severus announced their engagement on May Day, and wed in a traditional fashion on Lammas Day.

Minerva, having had the insider's knowledge, won the teacher's pool.

The Castle, having shed the stagnating bonds that were imposed on her by Albus Dumbledore, once again was the living center of Magical Britain.

And all of them lived happily ever after.


End file.
